Mile High Monday: Super Bowl Train Still Rolling Without Dumervil

December 23, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil (92) walks off the field after the game against the Cleveland Browns at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 34-12. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Elvis Dumervil saga finally came to an end on Sunday when he agreed to a contract with the Baltimore Ravens.

It seemed he wanted to move on from Denver ever since they cut him last week, and according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post the Ravens finally increased their contract offer so it made sense financially to leave.

The rumors are that Dumervil’s pride took a big hit when he was cut and he felt like the Broncos organization owed him. That is tough to comprehend since Denver drafted him, gave him a monster contract which paid him $28 million over the last two seasons, and compensated him handsomely when he missed the entire 2010 campaign.

Regardless of Dumervil’s opinion the organization did right by him since he came into the league. They wanted to rework his contract this offseason because they believed it was “out-of-whack” compared to his market value, a belief that was proven correct in the end. Dumervil is set to make $8.5 million this season which is a big reduction from the $12 million Denver would have paid him on his old contract.

The Broncos will certainly be signing either Dwight Freeney or John Abraham to fill the void at defensive end, and odds are decent they’ll use a pick on a defensive end in the draft next month. They’ll also be counting on more production from veteran Robert Ayers.

Whoever they bring in he’ll be much cheaper than Dumervil, and if you’ve read my articles you know I believe his production can be replaced by cheaper options. The goal for the Broncos won’t be to replace Dumervil’s sack numbers with a single player, but to get those sacks by committee over the length of the season.

Obviously it’s not ideal to lose a sack specialist who is only 29 years old but this Broncos team was going to be a top Super Bowl contender with or without Dumervil. The offense is going to be a monster with Peyton Manning throwing to the best wide receiving trio in the league, and the defense has a great core of talent led by Von Miller who is the only completely irreplaceable player on that side of the ball. If the coming additions at defensive end produce anything close to Dumervil’s 11 sacks from last year this team won’t miss a beat.

The 2013 Broncos have one goal in mind: Raise the Lombardi Trophy. And that goal hasn’t changed one bit.

Denver fans should be appreciative for what Dumervil accomplished here, but this messy divorce has forever blemished his reputation amongst the fan base. Make no mistake; he wanted out of Denver or he would have chosen to return weeks ago. He now plays for the enemy and should be treated as such going forward.

It sounds like Dumervil is happy and excited with his decision to leave. But he may end up feeling differently if the Broncos go on to hoist the Lombardi Trophy without him.

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